Sunday, June 22, 2014

Frustration

If you've been frustrated by tension issues on your sewing machine...try dealing with it on a longarm!!! I feel like I'm learning all over again when I spend six months in Paris and come back to Alaska to cram all my quilting time into the summer months. ARGH! I have spent more time ripping out than quilting. I'm getting there...


When I just can't take another minute at the quilting machine, I sit with my cross stitch. At this stage I had just finished all the floss cross stitch...now it was time to add the beads...my favorite part.


For the first time in many years of international and domestic flying...in Hong Kong...security confiscated all my little embroidery scissors, my manicure scissors and a metal nail file. Like I mentioned before...I have been carry those scissors for many years...never an issue. Sometimes security measures the blades but all of them were obviously under four inches which I believe is the maximum length everywhere else I have traveled...not Hong Kong. I could go on a rant here because I don't feel any safer when airport security finds me a risk...HA! The joys of flying.

Here is the adorable ornament with all the beads and a little outline stitching.


Of course that means it is time to start a new one!


I found a cross stitch kit on Ebay I had been searching for many years. It arrived a few days ago and is in perfect condition. I had the charts but not the charms and they were proving a great difficulty to track down. Problem now solved...I really do enjoy my Ebay searches. I can go months without finding anything and then one day I hit the jackpot.


Breakfast Club is on this coming Thursday. We'll be doing a quickie quilt using 10 fat quarters. I have no idea what fabrics I will pull for this one. I have two thoughts in mind...Christmas prints or animal prints.


Wish me luck...I'm turning on my longarm for another attempt. I should have been done with quilting this one by now!

4 comments:

Cathy said...

Tension issues have got to be the worst thing about those wonderful/dratted machines. There are some days when I could cheerfully throw it out the window, (assuming it would fit and I could lift it). And yet the next day, without changing anything, it will be fine. I've lost track of the hours spent ripping out because of flawed tension. I feel your pain.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I utterly hate tension issues - I of course do not have a long arm but I can see where that would be a problem - most of the time on my Juki if the tension messes up it seems like it is easily fixed by simply by retreading the machine and taking the bobbin out and putting it back in - why this fixes tension issues is beyond me but it works. Sorry you lost your scissors to security - have you seen some little blunt end scissors that some use? I have not tracked down where to order from as I rarely am on a plane but I have seen them on Bonnie Hunters site - maybe she knows where to get them? they are short and have blunted ends and she travels all over with them

Kathy Schwartz said...

I feel your pain. I'm ripping out a whole row of a panto on a clients quilt, still have half way to go as it's 100" wide! It wasn't a tension issue thought, it was a poor quality backing issue that allowed the batting to beard though terrible. Glad my client is okay with getting a new backing!

Oh that Perfect Ten pattern is great. I've made and quilted many of them!

Lori S said...

What I can see looks great. Tension issues stink! Hope it is smooth sailing from here out. I can't wait to see it finished.